This month, I’m going to be talking a lot about interior design—so today, I thought it’d be best to start with a quick look at how to find your own style. After all, it’s hard enough to find your design style in the real world, where there are just so many options out there for what you can do. But it can be doubly tricky in FFXIV, where not only are there so many options—but anything you think of, you need to be able to think of how to build it for yourself.
So how can you find your FFXIV design style?
Try taking an interior design quiz!
Finding your in-game style starts with finding what you love in the real world, too. After all, it’s your taste—so it probably won’t vary too much between the way you design your home and the way you build your house in the Mist, say.
Maybe it’s because I was a teenager in the early days of Buzzfeed, but I love a good quiz. There are so many good ones out there to help you find your interior design style, too! Personally, I’m a big fan of Modsy’s design quiz because it focuses so heavily on visuals, so you know nothing’s getting lost in translation.
That said, there are quite a few good ones out there. For example, I know HGTV has a popular one, as do Apartment Therapy and the Decorist. You might get slightly different answers depending on which ones you do, but that just gives you more room for thought.
Figure out the core elements of that style.
Once you know the style (or styles!) you like, it’s time to think about how you can apply that to FFXIV. Obviously, you’re going to be kind of limited in terms of what’s available, because it’s not like in-game furnishings have any real set style.
What you want to look for in your style are core elements that you can apply to the game.
This could be any number of things—textures, colours, patterns, materials, even basic structures. Then, think about how you can use those elements within the game.
For example, the modern farmhouse style relies heavily on natural textures and minimalist colour schemes. So if you were building with this style, you could use wood slat partitions, oriental partitions, or even the backs of stage panels to create rustic wood accents, and lots of pure or snow white dye to add the clean look this style is known for.
Experiment with your builds!
There’s always a massive discrepancy between theory and practice, and interior design is no exception. So sometimes, what you thought you’d like in-game turns out incredibly different from what you’d envisioned, and you might not be totally happy with it.
If and when that happens, my best advice is to play around with your build. I can’t tell you how many core elements of my designs I found entirely by accident—so by experimenting, you might even be able to find your own signature style.
